• Britain: Founding conference of Socialist Labour Party
SOME 600 PEOPLE ATTENDED THE 1ST Annual conference of the new Socialist Labour Party (SLP) in London on May 4th. 1
The initial appeal for a new party had been made in mid-January by miners' union leader Arthur Scargill, following discussions among a smaller network of activists, particularly within the rail workers, public sector workers and teachers unions. Over the following four months, 1,250 people joined the party.
A small number of local and regional trade union branches, representing some 3,100 members, have applied to affiliate to the SLP, but these moves have been challenged by the trade union bureaucracy. The leadership of the Transport and General Workers Union has told one North London branch that affiliation to any political party other than Labour would be against the union constitution. The dissident branch argues that the TGWU rule book also commits the union to the struggle for the common ownership of "the means of production, distribution and exchange". The deleting of this commitment from the Labour Party constitution in 1995 was a significant impulse towards the formation of the SLP. The commitments expressed in Clause Four of Labour's constitution may have been largely symbolic, but they were a constant embarrassment to Labour Party leaders, and their defence was a rallying point for the Labour left.
Only a limited number of policy documents had been prepared for discussion, amendments and approval at this conference. Policies were adopted on women, education, pensions, black liberation and anti-racism. A motion calling for an end to immigration controls was defeated by 182 votes to 114.
Concerning the Irish question, the conference approved a policy calling for an unconditional declaration of Britain's intention to withdraw from northern
Ireland, the repatriation of all Irish political prisoners currently in mainland jails, and the immediate convening of unconditional all-party peace talks.
Most votes showed support for the resolutions proposed by the provisional steering committee. The party statutes were not debated or voted on.
Media attention also focused on the conference call for "the introduction of a four-day working week, without loss of pay, a ban on non-essential overtime, and voluntary early retirement at the age of 55, on full pay."
The majority of contributions to the economic debate confirmed that many SLP members see the capitalist system as such as the root problem. There was high interest in the interventions by representatives of Spain's United Left, the Italian Communist Refoundation Party (see article p.3) and Cuba's Communist Party.
SLP leader Arthur Scargill said that the party will only stand a limited number of candidates (some delegates say as few as 50) in the next general election. Given the party's limited human and financial resources, the priority will be to stand candidates where there is a possibility for left organising, and the contest includes a particularly hated Conservative or Labour candidate.
Debate continues on the British left over the timing and method of the SLP's launch, and over whether or not the party can develop into a major alternative to the Labour Party *
Mark Johnson Notes 1. The party was officially launched at a press conference on May 1st. 2. An initial policy conference was held in March. This body set up working groups open to all members, which met separately in the run-up to the May 4th conference.
International Viewpoint 5
* Italy possible solutions and short term agreements, but concretely differentiate ourselves from the centre-left (without doing so a priori, in our own sectarian interest). We must e lotte seek to lead struggles:
counting not only on our own strength, but on the links we have established with mass movements that, we know, can't be built by propaganda alone.
This is the only possible approach at this moment in time.
The dangers are serious. Enormous pressure will be exerted on the PRC at all levels. This will come from two directions a "seductive offensive" of directions: a "seductive oftensive ot tempting proposals of participation in the government or the political-economic management of the public sector, l° alternating with virulent attacks aiming to discredit
Notes 1. Including the Pannella-Sgarbi list. 2. Forza Italia went from 21.1% to 20.6%; its best results were in the European elections of June 1994 (30.6%). The National Alliance went from 13.5% to 15.7%. 3. Even US President Clinton felt the need to emphasize that the US would collaborate with an Olive Tree government as with any other democratic government. 4. E.g. institutional reforms. 5. In 1994, the PDS received 20.4%. It gained 40,000 additional votes in absolute numbers, as well as the proportional votes for representatives of several minor parties. 6. Some examples of exaggerated effects of the electoral system; the movement headed by the incumbent prime minister, Dini, which proportionally won 4.3%, gained 27 seats in the Chamber, while the PRC (8.6%) won 35. In the Senate, the Greens (2.5%) elected 14 members and the PRC elected
The Contribl
11. The PPI (at around 5% of the vote) has 54 deputies and 26 senators. 7. Cofferati, the secretary of the CGIL, has spoken of a "Leaguist" danger in the ranks of his federation. At one Venice meeting of PRC leader Bertinotti, workers said they agreed with the social demands of the PRC, but would be voting for the League! 8. Italy dossier, International Viewpoint #274. 9. Particularly since one right-wing current left the PRC, taking with it an important number of deputies and members of the party leadership, but few ordinary members. 10. PDS Secretary D'Alema, has stressed the common origin of his party and the PRC. On May 1st, a Corriere della Sera journalist reminded PRC members of the definition which former CP leader Berlinguer gave in the 70's: "a party of opposition and a party of government." A Corriere della Sera editorial advocated "drowning [the PRC] in kindness." ition of Ernest arxist Theory Amsterdam, July 4-6, 1996 and isolate the PRC, sowg disarray among our electors and within our membership.
It will be hard to avoid having a reflexive approach, acting like a besieged fortress so as not to get trapped on a slippery slope. For sure, we cannot and will not assume the responsibility for an immediate failure of the center-left goverment. In the initial phase of the new legislature, this will be a big influence on the PRC's tactical choices
Later, we will still support the government where this allows the adoption of meas ures affirming democratic rights or favorable to workers. But no strategic agreement is possible with the Olive Tree and the Prodi government. The PRC cannot endorse gov-
Speakers: • Jesús Albarracin and Pedro Montes (Economists, Bank of Spain): The theory of late capitalism as a Marxist interpretation of post-WW2 capitalism • Robin Blackburn (Editor, New Left Review, London): The place of Ernest Mandel in the history of Marxist political thought • Alan Freeman (Economist, University of Greenwich): Economic dynamics: Mandel's legacy • Michael Löwy (Sociologist, CNRS, Paris): Ernest Mandel as a revolutionary humanist • Francisco Louça (Economist, IESG-University of Lisbon): Ernest Mandel's contribution to the theory of long waves of capitalist development • Charles Post (Historian, City University of New York): The theory of bureaucracy • Catherine Samary (Economist, University of Paris Xl): The conception of the transition to socialism • Enzo Traverso (Political Scientist, University of Amiens): Mandel's vision ernmental actions that hurt workers' living standards. No budgets similar to those of the preceding government! No privatization of key economic sectors! And no Italian engagement in NATO military adventures. *
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